Portable steam cleaner with back harness

ABSTRACT

A portable steam cleaner eliminates the need for the heavy, self-contained machine that houses the water pump, vacuum system, solution tank, and wastewater recovery tank. It moves the vacuum system and recovery tank from the self-contained unit to a module that the technician wears on his back. The water pump itself becomes a separate unit that attaches to any external tank of water at the job site, such as a bathtub. This external tank serves as the solution tank. Because the portable steam cleaner breaks the machine into small, manageable modules, a technician can easily transport the equipment to a job site. With the smaller steam cleaner, the technician has a great degree of flexibility, so he can maneuver the steam cleaner with ease and efficiency. Finally, because the recovery tank rests on the technician&#39;s back, he can effortlessly drain the tank simply by opening a valve.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates in general to cleaning machinery,and in particular, to portable steam cleaners.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] Professional carpet cleaners currently encounter manydifficulties when they use a portable steam cleaner. The typicalportable machine houses a water pump, vacuum system, solution tank, andrecovery tank and weighs close to 70 lbs. It requires a separate vacuumwand, carpet rake, vacuum hose, and solution line. A technician must usea truck to transport the machine and accessories to a job site. Oncereaching the site, the technician unloads the equipment and carries itinto the client's home or office. Because the technician cannot carrythe machine and accessories at one time, he must make multiple tripsbetween the truck and the job site, thereby reducing his productivity.At multi-level apartment complexes, the technician may have to negotiateseveral flights of stairs while carrying the heavy machine, therebyrisking physical injury to himself and excessive wear and tear on themachine.

[0003] Once the technician has unloaded all equipment, he must completea time-consuming set-up process. Set-up requires him to untangle avacuum hose that runs 35 to 50 feet in length, to connect the fourseparate accessories, and to fill the machine with up to 11 gallons of asoap solution.

[0004] After set-up, the technician begins cleaning the carpet with amachine that makes the cleaning process inefficient. The long vacuumhose is cumbersome and tangles with the solution line while cleaning, sothe technician must continuously move it as he vacuums. He alsocontinuously monitors the recovery tank to determine when it requiresdraining. To empty the tank, the technician must manually bucketwastewater from the tank to the toilet.

[0005] The clean-up process is as time consuming as the set-up process.Clean-up requires the technician to drain both the solution and recoverytanks, to untangle, wrap, and store the solution line and vacuum hose,and to make multiple trips from the job site to the truck carrying themachine and accessories.

[0006] What is needed in the art is a machine that is more efficient andrequires less physical exertion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention eliminates the need for the heavy,self-contained machine that houses the water pump, vacuum system,solution tank, and wastewater recovery tank. It moves the vacuum systemand recovery tank from the self-contained unit to a module that thetechnician wears on his back. The water pump itself becomes a separateunit that attaches to any external tank of water at the job site, suchas a bathtub. This external tank serves as the solution tank.

[0008] Because the present invention breaks the machine into small,manageable modules, a technician can easily transport the equipment to ajob site. With the smaller steam cleaner, the technician has a greatdegree of flexibility, so he can maneuver the steam cleaner with easeand efficiency. Finally, because the recovery tank rests on thetechnician's back, he can effortlessly drain the tank simply by openinga valve.

[0009] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features andtechnical advantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] For a more complete understanding of the present invention, andthe advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingdescriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

[0011]FIG. 1 illustrates the components of the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 2 illustrates the components of a typical conventional steamcleaner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] In the following description, numerous specific details are setforth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without such specific details. For the mostpart, details concerning electrical wiring and the like have beenomitted in as much as such details are not necessary to obtain acomplete understanding of the present invention and are within theskills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

[0014] Refer now to the drawings wherein depicted elements are notnecessarily shown to scale and wherein like or similar elements aredesignated by the same reference numeral through the several views.

[0015] The present invention separates the vacuuming and wastewaterrecovery systems from the solution pumping system, resulting in alightweight, easily maneuverable steam cleaner.

[0016]FIGS. 1 and 2 contrast the present invention with the conventionalmachine. Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention houses thewastewater recovery tank 104 and vacuum motor 107 in a separate unitthat a technician wears on his back using a harness assembly 103. Therecovery tank 104 is small, so the technician avoids placing excessiveweight on his back and enjoys ease in movement. The valve assembly anddump hose 108 are connected to the recovery tank 104 to allow easydrainage. To drain the recovery tank 104, the technician does not haveto remove the backpack unit; he simply positions the dump hose 108 overa toilet 114, opens the tank valve, and lets the wastewater flow throughthe hose 108 to the toilet 114. The tank valve could comprise anywell-known valve for controlling flow of a liquid in a conduit.

[0017] To power the vacuum motor 107, the power switch 106 is built intothe backpack unit, and the technician uses a separate power cord 109that spans the length of one or two rooms to connect to a power source(e.g., electrical outlet).

[0018] A separate vacuum hose 105 connects the backpack unit to thevacuum wand 101. Unlike the hose used by the conventional machine (seeFIG. 2), this hose 105 is only three feet in length, which prevents thehose 105 from tangling with the solution line 102 while cleaning andeliminates the need for rolling up and storing the long hose used by theconventional machine (see FIG. 2). The vacuum motor 107 pulls wastewaterthrough the vacuum wand 101 and hose 105 to the wastewater recovery tank104.

[0019] The present invention not only uses the vacuum wand 101 toextract wastewater from the carpet, but it also uses the wand 101 tospray the soap solution onto the carpet. A separate solution line 102connects the solution pump 110 to the wand 101 and delivers pressurizedcleaning solution to the wand 101.

[0020] The solution pump 110 is a lightweight, self-contained unit thatthe technician can effortlessly transport between job sites. It has abuilt-in power switch 1 16 and uses two attached hoses 115 to pump thesoap solution from an external tank, such as a bathtub 113 located atthe job site, through the solution line 102 and vacuum wand 101 to thecarpet. Because the present invention uses a different external tank ateach job site, a technician does not have to carry the bulky solutiontank 112 of the conventional machine (see FIG. 2) between job sites. Theprocess of filling and draining the tank is also simplified since thetechnician only has to turn on a faucet to fill the tank and open adrain to empty the tank.

[0021] To prepare the solution pumping system, the technician fills thebathtub 1 13 with water and soap. He then attaches the solution pump 110to the side of the tub 113 and immerses the two hoses 115 into the soapsolution. He uncoils the solution line 102 and connects it to thesolution pump 11 0 and vacuum wand 1 01. He finally connects the powercord 111 to the solution pump 110 and a power source (e.g., electricaloutlet), and he starts the pump 1 10 by using the built-in power switch1 16. Note, the pump 1 10 can be any commercially available pump capableof transporting a liquid from a source to a destination through hoses ortubes.

[0022] Although the present invention and its advantages have beendescribed in detail, it should be understood that various changes,substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable steam cleaning apparatus operable forcleaning surfaces in one or more rooms located within a building unitcomprising: a. a housing unit having a vacuum motor and a recovery tankfor collecting wastewater; b. a wand connected to said vacuum motor by avacuum hose, said wand having a distal end for being placed in proximityto a surface to be cleaned; c. a solution pump operable for obtainingwater from a plumbing fixture in proximity to a room having the surfaceto be cleaned within the building unit; d. a solution line wherein anend of said solution line is connected to said solution pump and anopposite end of said solution line is connected to said wand.
 2. Theapparatus in claim 1 further comprising a harness assembly for carryingsaid housing unit on the back of an operator.
 3. The apparatus in claim1 wherein said plumbing fixture is a bathtub.
 4. The apparatus in claim1 wherein said plumbing fixture is a sink.
 5. The apparatus in claim 1wherein said plumbing fixture is a toilet.
 6. The apparatus in claim 1further comprising a dump valve operable for expelling wastewater fromsaid recovery tank.
 7. The apparatus in claim 1 further comprising ahose to pump a cleaning solution provided in said plumbing fixture tosaid surface to be cleaned, wherein an end of said hose is attached tosaid solution pump and an opposite end of said hose dips into saidplumbing fixture.
 8. A system for cleaning surfaces in one or more roomslocated within a building unit comprising: a. a housing unit having avacuum motor and a recovery tank for collecting wastewater; b. a wandconnected to said vacuum motor by a vacuum hose, said wand having adistal end for being placed in proximity to a surface to be cleaned; c.a plumbing fixture in proximity to a room having the surface to becleaned within the building unit, wherein said plumbing fixture isfilled with water and soap to create a cleaning solution fordistribution onto the surface to be cleaned by said wand; d. a solutionpump operable for obtaining water from a plumbing fixture in proximityto a room having the surface to be cleaned within the building unit; e.a solution line wherein an end of said solution line is connected tosaid solution pump and an opposite end of said solution line isconnected to said wand; f. a hose to pump the cleaning solution providedin said plumbing fixture to said surface to be cleaned, wherein an endof said hose is attached to said solution pump and an opposite end ofsaid hose dips into said plumbing fixture; and g. a harness assembly forcarrying said housing unit on the back of an operator.
 9. The system asrecited in claim 8 , wherein said plumbing fixture is a bathtub.
 10. Amethod for cleaning surfaces in one or more rooms located within abuilding unit comprising the steps of: a. attaching a solution pump to aplumbing fixture in proximity to a room having a surface to be cleanedwithin the building unit to obtain water from said plumbing fixture; b.filling said plumbing fixture with a water and soap to create a cleaningsolution for distribution onto a surface to be cleaned; c. connectingsaid solution pump to a portable housing unit having a recovery tank forcollecting wastewater, a vacuum motor, and a dump hose connected to saidrecovery tank, wherein said portable housing unit is carried on the backof the operator; and d. moving a wand connected to said portable housingunit in a longitudinal motion along said surface to be cleaned, whereinsaid wand distributes a cleaning solution onto said surface andconcurrently extracts wastewater from said surface for disposal througha distal end of said wand.
 11. The method in claim 10 wherein saidplumbing fixture is a bathtub.
 12. The method in claim 10 wherein saidplumbing fixture is a sink.
 13. The method in claim 10 wherein saidplumbing fixture is a toilet.